Published 1 year ago
by
Anthony Vieira
, Updated November 11th, 2013 at 6:08 am,

It’s been an eventful week in the way of blockbuster casting news, and as it happens, the fun’s not quite over. After learning that Zack Snyder’s Man of Steelsequel Batman Vs. Superman might include former Batman sidekick Dick Grayson (formerly known as Robin, who went on to fight crime on his own as Nightwing), an apparent frontrunner for the role emerged in the form of Girls star Adam Driver.

While we here at Screen Rant have our own ideas about who could play Nightwing, two more actors have reportedly joined Driver on the studio’s shortlist. According to an as-yet unconfirmed source at Superhero Movie News, the current list has a total of six actors, with two more names revealed as serious contenders: Penn Badgley and Ezra Miller.

Penn Bagley is best known for his former role on Gossip Girl, but he ventured into more serious terrain as a young stockbroker in Margin Call and as late singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley in Greetings from Tim Buckley. Ezra Miller’s first major role was as the recurring boyfriend of David Duchovy’s daughter on Showtime’s Californication, went on to co-star in The Perks of Being A Wallflowerand mined his considerable dark side as a disturbed youth in We Need To Talk About Kevin.

Since this news comes from an unnamed source with no official confirmation available, take it with some salt, as always. The addition of Bagley and Miller to the shortlist points toward a variety of different kind of actors Warner Bros. is looking at for the role, which leads us to wonder: What kind of Nightwing will we see in Batman vs. Superman? While Adam Driver is easily a physical match for returning Superman Henry Cavill and new Batman Ben Affleck, both Badgley and Miller stand under six feet and are noticeably slighter. That said, they do all share a similarly hipster look and tend to gravitate toward indie roles.

If the rumors are true, we know that this Nightwing will be estranged from Batman, with the two evidently not on speaking terms after some kind of falling out which has yet to be revealed. That’s all we have in the way of potential plot points, but many details about the character remain unknown: Did this version of Dick Grayson start his vigilante career as Batman’s sidekick and, if so, was he Robin?

In the comic books, Grayson once patrolled the streets of Blüdhaven (before it was laid to waste in Infinite Crisis), which neighbors Gotham City – will the film retain this aspect of the character, giving him a physical remove from Batman? Or will there even be enough time for details like that?

While the physical differences between Badgley, Miller and Driver may be rendered moot by Hollywood magic and the actors’ approach to the role, the age differences of the names involved is intriguing: at 21, Ezra Miller is significantly younger than the 27-year-old Bagley and the 29-year-old Driver. This is pure speculation, but could Miller actually be sought for a current, younger Robin? A 21-year-old seems a bit young to be a distant and jaded superhero… but that might be exactly the point.

Since there are three other names on this reported shortlist, stay tuned for more news on a potential Nightwing.

Is it even going to be a Superman movie? Seems like they can’t let Batman have a rest and have to throw yet another Batman movie at us. I still say Batman in the MOS sequel is too stinking early. My opinion as a fan is that Batman could have made an appearance in the 3rd Superman film. This seems to rushed to catch up to Marvel with their Avengers movies.

I am only familiar, among these guys, with Ezra Miller in Wallflower. I think he’s a good actor, but is he a good choice for Nightwing/Robin? Maybe – I am not super concerned with “how big a guy is” for this sort of role.

Anyway, I don’t mind that this upcoming film might have a bunch of characters appearing in it. I can embrace the positive aspect, that being that we might actually get to see Nightwing and Wonder Woman and so for on the screen for the first time. None of these developments NECESSARILY take away from Superman’s continued development being the primary focus.

Ok heres my thoughts, THis will still be a mos film so dont panic. Batman will be appearing in this film, he will be investagating this alien.Now batman is not a hawkman or the atom or firestorm. Anotherwords not a second tier hero so it would be hard to have him do battle in ths film with supes with just sticking to a cameo.They are setting up a justice league so thateing said this is not a marvel film( which I mean they dont suck) so the approach will be different. They have to do several things in this film since adding batman…one explain his past of coarse…like with a nightwing,robin, a gordon or gotham city…etc….this is a different batman remember not a nolan film. Second continue supermans journey on earth…his killing of zod and destruction of metroplis…his presence period. Third..they are setting up a justice league…this is not a marvel universe and will not be a carbon copy…so dont expect that

How the hell did Driver end up on that list? Dick Grayson is supposed to be all hunky and drop-dead gorgeous. Definite yes on Badgley; a good balance of pretty boy and masculine (which is Grayson in a nutshell.)